Obamacare enrollments: White House says 6 million signed up for coverage
By: Jennifer Epstein and Joanne Kenen March 27, 2014 02:55 PM EDT

More than 6 million people have signed up on the new insurance exchanges, and enrollment is surging with four days to go before the Obamacare signup deadline.

President Barack Obama broke the news Thursday on a call from Italy with thousands of activists and volunteers who have been helping people sign up across the country. The White House said he thanked them “for all their hard work to date and discussed the importance of building on this progress over the last four days of open enrollment.”

The total is lower than the 7 million goal set before the exchanges opened, but it beats revised expectations. And the pace of enrollment is a striking turnaround after the disastrous start last fall when HealthCare.gov and several of the state-run exchanges faltered and crashed.

With outreach by both officials and their allies in high gear, the White House can expect the tally to keep climbing — especially as it announced this week that it would allow extra time and assistance for anyone who self-reported hitting a snag as they tried to sign up by Monday.

Numerous polls have found the four year old law, which was passed without Republican support, is both misunderstood and unpopular. Democrats facing tough re-election fights next November have distanced themselves. Five Democrats and one independent members of Congress — who in a POLITICO op-ed published Wednesday night outlined a set of changes they would like to see, including more relief for smaller businesses — are following up that essay with legislation.

But the White House Thursday was looking at the bright side. Obama noted that there were more than 1.5 million visits to HealthCare.gov on Wednesday, and more than 430,000 phone calls to help centers. States running their own exchanges are also reporting that enrollment is accelerating, with some surpassing their targets. More than a million people have signed up in California alone.

The president “encouraged the navigators and volunteers to redouble their efforts over the next four days and leave no stone unturned in trying to bring affordable health coverage to as many Americans as possible,” the White House said in a readout of the call.

The head of the agency overseeing the new marketplaces, Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner, said consumers are calling and coming to the website in near record numbers. “We are working hard to ensure that our systems can handle the unprecedented demand as people enroll before the March 31 deadline.”

Advocates on the call spread the word in jubilant tweets. “SIX MILLION, BABY!,” said one.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius added her own tweet: “Please RT to share the great news—6 million Americans have signed up for health insurance since Oct 1! #GetCoveredNow”

Sebelius has been on the road constantly, often appearing in areas with high uninsurance rates. She often appears alongside Democratic local officials in GOP-led states, trying to build enthusiasm where Republicans have tried to dampen it.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated last year that about 7 million people would likely enroll in Obamacare insurance exchanges in 2014, before the disastrous HealthCare.gov launch. White House officials embraced that goal, although they later tried to distance themselves. The CBO recently revised its estimate to 6 million — which still seemed optimistic to many, given the weak start and the slow ramp up.

In addition to the people turning to the exchanges, at least four million people have been deemed eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program through the exchange. Others have signed up through their state Medicaid agencies.

Higher enrollment numbers have not impressed Republicans, who plan more votes to repeal or change parts of the law. They also quickly noted that not everyone who signs up has paid their premiums: Insurers estimate that about 15 to 20 percent haven’t paid yet, so they aren’t fully enrolled, although the number is in flux.

Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), speaking before the White House released the updated numbers, predicted that the final enrollment figures would become a Washington parlor game, especially since many people hadn’t paid.

“Being enrolled doesn’t mean it works, you have to collect money,” he said. He also questioned how many of the people signing up had done so because they had little choice after their old plan was cancelled.

“Canceling millions of policies, then bragging when they sign up for another one is a little odd, don’t you think?,” tweeted Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

But advocates hope the tide is turning. Ethan Rome, who headed Health Care for America Now, which pushed for the law’s passage, said millions of people are benefiting, either by enrolling in an exchange plan or through new protections, like free preventive care and an end to lifetime caps, in their workplace coverage.

“The program is working,” Rome said. “The politics may look challenging, but the law has beaten every effort to defeat it. “